I have added the oversized tires on it now. I really like them.
The lights I built. I just tapped into the battery leads for power.
the P-51 with a 240 MAh 20c battery pack turns the GWS 4530, 5030, and the 5043 very well.

Each prop flys the plane equally well. I like the 4540 for neighborhood flying as it has a significant more punch to really turn the plane on a dime.
The 5030 works very well. This is the prop I have decided I will use when I mount the camera to it. For long flight times and lazy bird touch and goes I go with the 5043. It just feels better at slow and low flying.

Hope to get some flights in between all the rain..

could yo please tell us more about the lights? you said that you built them.

Thanks for that...I'm going to pull the servo rack and check it...like I said, it sounds like it's binding up...like it wants to move.
LS...LOVE what you've done with your Champ. Last week, I ordered a 5000mah lipo, UM P-51 motor, and some GWS 5043's. Everything shoud be here in time for a weekend/Xmas break build. I also realy like the fat tires. I prefer leaving the LG on, myself...

HOLY FLIGHT TIME BAT MAN!!!!!
5000mah, you'll be in the air for a good week straight, if it gets up at all.

HOLY FLIGHT TIME BAT MAN!!!!!
5000mah, you'll be in the air for a good week straight, if it gets up at all.

oops...fat-fingered the keyboard...I ordered a 500mah lipo, lol.

Doesn't matter...I'll be working on Chomp this evening. Finally get a gorgeous evening to fly...and within a minute, I was stuck in a Cottonwood tree about 40' up. I got the plane down in pieces. I was in a hurry to do my preflight, and verified my controls worked with the new brick...but didn't notice they were backwards.

Bummer, hate when that happens.
Had a guy about a week ago at the club who pulled something similar.
Had his brand new build on the runway, advanced the throttle only to see the plane back up.... Was hilarious, plane backed up, turned left, right onto the taxi way, just like he was parking it. WHOOPS!

Anywho, the stuff you hoard and find. And might be a tip for those who plan on adding wing struts.

The yellow items are from an original brushed PZ Cub, for it's wing struts.
Since I'm going with CF struts, I'm going to use GWS clevis' for the strut ends, and a pair of GWS strut mounts for the fuse side.

I checked, you can still buy the wing strut kit for the Cub for $2.99, and heck you even get the struts, which could easily be modded to work.

And the GWS stuff you probably have laying in your stash somewhere.

Should make a really clean looking strut set up.

Images

lol...well, I got a new brick from HZ today...yep...they accidentally sent me a 2nd one. So, with the motor swap, and another brick...I'm thinking of either scratch building a plane, or spending 20 bucks on one of those gravity warbirds...just for S & G's.

Originally I used the Superbright flashing LEDs white and red for the tail however the frequency was to fast for my liking. So I built a simple circuit out of a 555 timer. to flash at about 1 hz.. attached.. I used Surface mount products with a basic project board. It all came in under 9 grams.
I order my parts from Jameco Electronics.. They are reasonably priced and ship fast.
I have a phototransistor on there to detect light now that I just recently added. I am building another for My T-28 so I will take photos as I do that or maybe just do a video.

****Edit... The purpose of the transistor was to get the flashers as bright as possible. The LED's have different forward voltages and the 555 was not real consistent so I just drove them with the transistor.

All in all it only added about 8 or 9 grams to the plane and it really does not notice it..

lol...well, I got a new brick from HZ today...yep...they accidentally sent me a 2nd one. So, with the motor swap, and another brick...I'm thinking of either scratch building a plane, or spending 20 bucks on one of those gravity warbirds...just for S & G's.

With an extra champ brick, you need to build a Flyzone Albatros. In calm winds, this is all I fly. It would be great indoors in a gym, too. You can buy all the parts from Tower for about $40.

Originally I used the Superbright flashing LEDs white and red for the tail however the frequency was to fast for my liking. So I built a simple circuit out of a 555 timer. to flash at about 1 hz.. attached.. I used Surface mount products with a basic project board. It all came in under 9 grams.
I order my parts from Jameco Electronics.. They are reasonably priced and ship fast.
I have a phototransistor on there to detect light now that I just recently added. I am building another for My T-28 so I will take photos as I do that or maybe just do a video.

****Edit... The purpose of the transistor was to get the flashers as bright as possible. The LED's have different forward voltages and the 555 was not real consistent so I just drove them with the transistor.

All in all it only added about 8 or 9 grams to the plane and it really does not notice it..

Originally I used the Superbright flashing LEDs white and red for the tail however the frequency was to fast for my liking. So I built a simple circuit out of a 555 timer. to flash at about 1 hz.. attached.. I used Surface mount products with a basic project board. It all came in under 9 grams.
I order my parts from Jameco Electronics.. They are reasonably priced and ship fast.
I have a phototransistor on there to detect light now that I just recently added. I am building another for My T-28 so I will take photos as I do that or maybe just do a video.

****Edit... The purpose of the transistor was to get the flashers as bright as possible. The LED's have different forward voltages and the 555 was not real consistent so I just drove them with the transistor.

All in all it only added about 8 or 9 grams to the plane and it really does not notice it..

Attached also is the test board

Very nice, I use 555's in my bigger stuff to run the lamps. So easy to play with resistors to change the flash timing. Works great for a blinking tail lamp or a strobed belly lamp.

Thinking you could easily cut the weight to a third of what you have there, most of my boards end up about 3/8" by 3/4". Takes a little more time as you have to work with a magnifying glass but you can squeeze all those resistors/diodes and such in a very small area.

As for painting wheels, I used a plain old Testors paint stick on mine.
Lot more control over a brush. And I just squeezed the foam as I painted the rims so that the foam was pulled away from the rim.

You can pull the foam off, but it's a bit of a pain, you could easily tear the foam, or bugger up the rim reinstalling it.